AN INSIDE LOOK - Commentary and opinions on local politics and life in general in Southeastern Massachusetts! Featuring the writings of Bill Gouveia, newspaper columnist for the Sun Chronicle and local cable TV talk show host. Feel free to read, comment and enjoy!

Friday, February 28, 2014

This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle on Friday, February 28, 2014

AN INSIDE LOOK

By Bill Gouveia

I
have found religion.I am moving to
Arizona and living my life by my own deep convictions so I can be free, in the
truest and most holy sense of the word.

Arizona
is obviously the holy land.It is the
state that gave us Barbara Eden, Barry Goldwater, Geronimo and Sheriff Joe
Arpaio.It is home to great thinkers in
the state legislature, evidenced by the bill they passed recently to defend the
rights of those of us with true faith.

I have
adopted the religion of Loopholeism, part of a widely growing religious
organization.We are dedicated to taking
advantage of all the loopholes the Good Lord intended us to use in order to
make our society what it should be, and what we demand it become.We are all about freedom, even if we have to
take away the rights of everyone else in order to get it.

The
Loopholeist philosophy is rooted in that most common religious belief that our
way is the right way.We just need to
get everyone else to see it that clearly.We hold fast to our conviction that every single person in this world
has the right to do things our way, and no doubt would if we just forced them.

In
Arizona, lawmakers passed a bill (since vetoed by the Governor, a small delay)
that would allow any company to refuse to do business with gays or lesbians if
– and this is the key here – if doing so truly violated their religious beliefs.Now according to Loopholeist theology, being
gay is a sin.Serving gays is a sin
also, because by merely acknowledging their existence we give credence and
value to that sin.As a result, our
right to feel good about ourselves at the expense of others is outrageously
violated.

As
Loopholeists, we fully support the right of gay people to be sinners.It is their choice, and we will defend to the
death their right to be wrong.But we
cannot sit back and allow ourselves to be seen as serving or consorting with
sinners.After all, how can you feel
good about yourself unless you have someone to look down at?Equality is a wonderful thing, but only those
who believe with us can truly be equal.

Our
Loopholeist beliefs are summed up in our holy book, known as the Loo.Whenever we need to contemplate life, we go
straight to the Loo.The Loo is full of
what we thrive on, and we pride ourselves on spreading as much of it as
possible as far as we can.And Arizona
seems like just the perfect place for spreading.

We
do not align ourselves with any other religion, because to do that would be
admitting there might be a way of doing things different from our own.We think all religions should have the right
to not serve gays and lesbians or anyone else they might object to, and would
stand with them if they chose that path. We are all brothers and sisters when it comes
to separating ourselves from those less worthy.

And
when we are done making sure we are free from dealing with gays, we can move
forward towards other worthy goals.Of
course, that may mean culling out some of our “brothers and sisters” who have
views that violate our sincerely held beliefs.But at least the homosexual sinners won’t be totally lonely.

Being
a Loopholeist also means being free of politics.We are neither Democrats nor Republicans, not
Liberals nor Conservatives.In fact we
don’t want to deal with those people either, unless they become
Loopholeists.After all, we are a
welcoming group.

Not
much grows in the deserts of Arizona, but the seeds we seek to plant will
firmly take root.We will demonstrate
the right way to live by highlighting all the wrong ways.We will find fault with all others, until the
only acceptable alternative is us.

But
all of you should feel free to believe in your own religion or philosophy.You see, we Loopholeists aren’t in control of
anything yet.But if we can take Arizona
today, who knows where we will end up tomorrow.Veto be damned.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist who
hopes everyone understands satire. He can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle on February 24, 2014

AN INSIDE LOOK

By Bill Gouveia

It
took jurors less than an hour last week to find North Attleboro high school
student Patrick Skrabec not guilty of threatening to commit a crime and
disturbing a school assembly. He had
been charged with making statements in his math class about shooting up the
school in the days following the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in
Connecticut.

Now
that his innocence has been established, the question becomes was Skrabec a
victim of over-zealous prosecution on the part of local police and the district
attorney? Was he a victim of the
hysteria and fear resulting from the shootings across the country and our
changing ideas on security? Or was he
just a kid who said something stupid at an inappropriate time?

While
not professing in any way to be an expert on the situation, I think a strong
case can be made for the third option.
Patrick Skrabec appears to be a good kid who made a dumb mistake and
paid a high price for his actions. Not
as high as it could have been had the jury voted differently, but pretty severe
nonetheless.

In
the aftermath of his ill-timed and ill-advised remarks, Skrabec was jailed
without bail for six days over the Christmas holiday. His was subjected to a dangerousness hearing
at which time the DA attempted to keep him there, despite reports from
witnesses that he had never been in trouble in or out of school. He was initially charged with a felony, which
was dropped two months later in favor of the reduced charges.

His
father is understandably upset over the situation, and blames police officials
and the DA. He said some of the North
Attleboro police leaders should be “held to a higher standard of behavior,” and
that the district attorney should be “embarrassed and ashamed.”

Did
police overreact to the situation?
That’s easy to say, but hard to determine. When it is your job to be responsible for the
safety of thousands of school children as well as the community as a whole, you
don’t have a lot of room for error. If
you make a mistake in the wrong direction – people die. Police officers and law enforcement officials
live with that knowledge every day.

That
does not mean police or the DA’s office are exempt from doing their job
carefully and professionally. The rights
of the individual in this society still mean something, despite our political
and social shifts of the last decade or two.
No one should be subjected to frivolous or unwarranted arrest and detention.

But
just like you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater, you can’t talk about
shooting up the school in your classroom these days. It doesn’t matter that you are joking or
don’t mean it. The fact is if someone
takes your remarks seriously, very bad things can happen. Like the burden on police, the burden on our
students is greater today than in the past.

Skrabec’s
attorney argued that “Maybe it was in poor taste and maybe it was
inappropriate. But that doesn’t mean he
is a criminal or had criminal intent.”
While that is true, the word “maybe” is poorly used in this defense. Seriously, counselor? It was in poor taste, it was
inappropriate. But as a jury agreed, it
did not make Patrick Skrabec a criminal.

It
is quite possible this whole affair will once again see the inside of a
courtroom. A civil suit is a distinct
possibility, where the standard of proof will be different and the police and
district attorney the ones on trial.
Here’s hoping that does not happen.

And
here is also hoping Patrick Skrabec graduates from North High this year and
goes on to live a most happy and successful life. He has no doubt learned that words – even
those said in jest – can have serious consequences.

Let
this also serve as a reminder that our kids are still children, and will make
mistakes. We have to be able to understand
that and forgive them as well as be ready to act and punish when necessary.

Our
children have to grow up faster than ever these days, and that’s a shame. It’s not easy being a kid or a cop in this
world.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and
can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle on Monday, February 17, 2014

AN INSIDE LOOK

By Bill Gouveia

It
became big news recently when a highly-ranked college football player who would
normally be selected in the first few rounds of the upcoming National Football
League draft announced he was gay.The
real question is – why was it such a big deal?

Michael
Sam will not be the first gay player in the NFL.He could become the first openly gay player,
which is really what the alleged story is here.And all across America, players and fans and observers of the game are
asking:Is the NFL ready for an openly
homosexual player?

The
answer is the league had better get ready.It has no business trying to keep gay players off its fields and out of
its locker rooms, any more than it can keep certain religions or races from its
ranks.The real issue is not whether the
NFL is ready for gay players, but rather just how long it can continue to get
away with being judged differently than the rest of America in this regard.

Can
you imagine a story breaking in the national press that a major accounting firm
was about to hire the first openly gay CPA?Or perhaps that the Associated Press was considering the hiring of an
openly gay editor?People would be
outraged that the sexual preference of any potential employee was even an issue,
since it in no way affects their ability to do their job.

But
the NFL (and other major sports leagues) have apologists who point to how
different the leagues are from other institutions.We are somehow supposed to believe that an
NFL locker room is such a bastion of male hormonal behavior that the mere
existence of an openly homosexual player would wreak havoc and cause serious
harm to the franchises that rely on the public for their very survival.

This
macho crap is enough to make even a diehard sports fan like me throw up.Spare me this indignant righteousness when it
comes to protecting the good name of heterosexuality as it pertains to the
athletic men who compete in the NFL.They are in the workplace just like the rest of us, although their job
is certainly more physically demanding than most.They don’t get to make their own rules
concerning the society in which they live, and it is high time they understood
that.

I
have heard it said the NFL locker room is a place where homophobic references
are commonplace, and forcing political correctness would change both the
players and the game.To which I reply –
good, it’s about time.

Spare
me this talk of “a brotherhood” as one NFL player put it.The “tight-knit” teams will be torn asunder because
they can’t crack gay jokes and humiliate their new co-workers.

That’s
just doubletalk and excuses to try and allow these young millionaires to
continue to avoid growing up.They are
supposed to concentrate totally on winning games and championships, so we
somehow exempt them from being real and decent people at the same time.That’s wrong and unacceptable.

NFL
locker rooms have been known to accept convicted criminals, regular drug users,
and even sex offenders.Somehow they
manage to fit in to the “culture” of the league.The idea that a gay teammate might somehow
throw the entire franchise into disarray by doing nothing but being himself is
absurdly stupid.

Many
NFL experts say it will be the “distraction” an openly gay player will bring
that will be the problem.They also
worry about those players of faith who will find it difficult to accept a
teammate living a lifestyle they consider a sin.

Having
a gay player will only be as much a distraction as the league and the teams
allow it to be.Patriots Coach Bill
Belichick is the poster boy for how to avoid distractions.The rest of the league should watch and
learn.

And
religion is a personal matter – much like sexual preference.You don’t have to like or accept that of anyone
else.But yours does not override theirs
in importance.

Let’s
make no more excuses for bad behavior by football executives and players.Let’s start holding them to reasonable
standards of behavior.Let’s make that a
big deal.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and
can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.

Friday, February 14, 2014

This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle on Friday, February 14, 2014.

AN INSIDE LOOK

By Bill Gouveia

This
state’s Open Meeting Law (OML) is often made out to be some complex series of
regulations.But it really isn’t.It is a relatively simple statement of the
rules for keeping government meetings open to the public.

That
is clearly evidenced by the fact most cities and towns have little trouble
following it.Sure, they might need some
guidance from their lawyers or state officials on interpreting some of the
finer points.But year after year, for
many decades now, Massachusetts municipalities generally abide by the spirit
and the letter of this important statute.

And
then, there is Foxboro…

When
repeated and continued violations of the OML occur in the same community, it is
usually because someone or some group of officials has decided following the
law is inconvenient, politically inexpedient, or just beneath them.The blatant disregard and political abuse of
the OML in Foxboro is well-documented and quite institutionalized.And it is time for it to come to an end.

The
town’s Board of Selectmen is the most recent and perhaps the most regular
violator of the OML.While it is
difficult to term their abuse of the law as deliberate, it is becoming even
tougher to believe it continues to be an accident.Quite frankly, if you seek not to impugn the
board’s integrity in this regard, you almost have to get to the point of
questioning their intelligence.

The
selectmen violated the OML when they voted in closed session to terminate the
contract of former town manager Kevin Paicos.They did this with their attorney in the room.They later admitted the violation and took
the vote again in open session, after they had achieved the political objective
that led to the illegal vote in the first place.No harm, no foul was the apparent attitude.

More
recently they have fought with their own town counsel over whether or not they
were guilty of another OML violation.This time it involved an illegal communication from selectman Lorraine
Brue to her other members concerning the proposed liquor license for the
Splitsville bowling alley/nightclub.

After
selectmen and the town manager all stated there was no violation in this
instance, it was discovered their attorney had a different opinion.After much haggling and some citizen
intervention, they decided to have Brue read her email aloud as a way to “cure”
the violation they earlier said did not exist.Once again, it amounts to copping a plea with no punishment after
achieving their political goal.

And
there was great effort taken to stress the violation was “inadvertent”.The OML does indeed differentiate between
intentional violations and deliberate ones, but it is often very difficult to
prove the former.In the end, a
violation is a violation.If you take on
the responsibility of being a selectman, the need to understand and follow the
OML becomes a part of that.

Now
selectmen appear to be using the OML as a way of preventing their real and
alleged violations from being discussed or addressed.They have taken steps to structure their
agenda to prevent citizens from bringing it up.They have refused requests from one of their own members to publicly
address the issue in a transparent and direct manner.They are using the law to help them avoid
confronting their own missteps and mistakes.

Selectmen
Jim DeVellis has been consistently thwarted in his efforts to focus the board
on truly living up to the ideals of the OML.He has tried to open up the process instead of covering it up, with
little to no success.“Selectmen and
applicants come and go, but the public process should remain intact,” he
recently stated.

The
sad truth is if selectmen put as much effort into following the OML as they
have in trying to get around it, they would not be in the trouble they now
face.They would not be in the position
of appearing to consider themselves above the law.They would not be at risk of having their
integrity publicly challenged.

Selectmen
have blamed the public for the prevailing political attitude permeating Foxboro
these days.But they need look no
further than themselves for an example of bad behavior leading to problems in
the local government.

Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and
can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.

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Bill Gouveia
Bill has been a newspaper columnist for the Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, MA for more than a decade, as well as former host of his own local cable talk show "An Inside Look" in his hometown of Norton, MA. Bill previously wrote columns for the Norton Mirror, Mansfield News and Easton Journal for about ten years, and Norton Patch as well, and is a former selectman in Norton. He is currently the elected Norton Town Moderator. His real-time job is as Vice President of Atlantic Stainless Co., Inc - a stainless steel distributorship in North Attleboro, MA. He and his wife Cynthia have been married for 40 years and have two sons, Aaron and Nathan. He is also the proud grandfather of William Gouveia, Avery Gouveia, Samuel Gouveia, Addison Gouveia and Thomas Gouveia.